Kicker Rules in Poker: When Your Side Card Counts

A kicker is a card that isn’t part of your made hand but still counts toward your best five cards. When two players have the same pair, two pair or three of a kind, the kicker decides who wins.

The one rule

Your hand is always your best five cards. A kicker only counts if it’s one of those five. If the tie is still unbroken after five cards, the pot is split — a sixth card never plays.

Which hands have kickers

Hand	Cards used by the hand	Kickers
One pair	2	3
Two pair	4	1
Three of a kind	3	2
Four of a kind	4	1
High card	—	all 5 compared

Straights, flushes and full houses use all five cards, so they have no kicker — the hand is compared on its own cards.

Examples

One pair, kicker wins. Board: J♠ 8♦ 5♣ 3♥ 2♠. A holds J♥ A♦, B holds J♣ K♣. Both have a pair of jacks. A’s best five: J-J-A-8-5. B’s: J-J-K-8-5. A wins with the ace kicker.

Kicker doesn’t play. Board: 9♠ 9♦ K♣ Q♥ J♠. A holds 9♥ 2♣, B holds 9♣ 3♦. Both have trip nines. Best five for both: 9-9-9-K-Q. The board’s king and queen outrank both players’ small cards. Split pot.

Two pair, board kicker. Board: A♠ A♦ 7♣ 7♥ K♠. A holds 6♦ 6♣, B holds J♠ 2♣. A’s sixes don’t beat the board’s sevens, so A’s best five is A-A-7-7-K, the same as B’s. Split pot.

Two pair on board, kicker plays. Board: 8♠ 8♦ 6♣ 6♥ T♠. A holds A♣ 5♦, B holds K♣ 5♠. Both have eights and sixes; A’s ace kicker beats B’s king. A wins.

Why the kicker matters in strategy

Most chips lost with one pair are lost to the same pair with a better kicker. That’s why A-9 or K-J offsuit are weak hands to call raises with: when you hit, you’re often dominated. See domination and starting hands.

Related

• Who wins a split pot?
• Poker hand rankings
• Reading the board

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